TickBeatTick
by Droce
Summary: Her isolation made her forget and how she'd forgotten what the human heart was, what it sounded like.  Flora-centric oneshot.


**Professor Layton is not mine; I hold no claim other than this fanfiction. -**

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><p>Flora, always, after her mother died, had the fear that Dahlia would try to take her mother's place.<p>

Initially, Dahlia was programmed to, but later, she was so unlike her mother, but with her mother's face, Flora couldn't stand it.

It was when the Professor came by that she really began to appreciate Bruno's work. The brilliance- she was no fool, talking to Bruno, she was rather skilled with robots, herself. She never wanted to put the skill to use, not until Bruno wasn't there to do it.

Her dirty secret, that she could put Mister Clive Dove to shame with her little gadgets and work, but she never wanted to need it until she had to repair her village herself.

How she remembered, this was five years to the day she'd been adopted by the professor.

How she remembered the day that she left, how the night before was saying good-by to Ingrid, to Bruno and Matthew, to Dahlia and the rest.

Dahlia broke her heart to say good-by. How her voice shook, how she looked down and Flora watched little tears wet her shawl.

"Flora- I-I- " How she'd swallowed, to keep her composure, how she looked up, trying to keep her face straight. How she'd never looked so human as that night, eyes red and watery, face flushed and yet she kept her composure so.

"Mama Dahlia," Flora put her hand's on the Lady's, looking down, her tone so soft and affectionate, "Do you mind if I were to call you that?"

How Lady Dahlia's voice caught in her throat, so figuratively and so literally. "I-I- Not at all, Flora. No-Not at all." How she kept her head down to hide her smile; how Flora held her and smiled herself.

That night, she shared a bed with Dahlia, resting her head on her chest and listening to the clockwork heartbeat. How to her, that was how a heartbeat was supposed to sound, wasn't it?  
>That was how her father's heart sounded, for as long as she could remember, but he'd always said it wasn't always like that. Ingid and Matthew and Bruno- she'd never heard their hearts.<p>

Imagine her surprise when she'd laid on the professor once, just that once, dozing off while watching telly, and how she'd jumped and stared at him, eyes wide and shocked, trying to form something coherent.

"Your heart-!" She'd nearly shrieked in horror. Hearts didn't sound like that. She didn't know anything other than the sound of her father's heart, other than the sound of Dahlia's heart.  
>She'd forgotten what the human heartbeat was.<p>

"Is in proper order, my dear. " The professor had an unreadable expression crossing his face.

How her face fell to something of horror. To something of despair and how she sunk to her knees and grabbed her hair in her hands, realizing how utterly isolated she'd been. Had it really been so long since she'd been close to someone who's heart wasn't the soft ticking that mimicked the sound of the heart?

It must have.

She cried, first, and how the Professor awkwardly held her, comforting her.

And then she got mad. Oh, yes, she threw a right proper temper tantrum, throwing china at walls and shrieking between confusion and despair-filled sobs. The Professor didn't mind it; he let her vent, even if he never approved of it.

How when Luke and the Professor left her for the last time, after the incident of Underground London, how she'd stamped her foot at the door and how her voice was so little more than a growl and a sob and such a desperate sound.

"_I don't want to forget that sound again."_

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><p><strong>- AN:** Guys I love Dahlia like you have no idea. At first I was like "BITCH." And then as I keep replaying that first game I look at it and realize what a badass she is.

I mean, look at how she takes Flora leaving- with grace.

She is such a boss just holy shit man. I also think the Baron Rheinhold had work done on his heart to keep him alive longer, kinda like Bruno's version of a pacemaker but cooler.

And I like Flora okay shooooosh.

Thank you for reading!


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